Madonna

Taking up where Ray of Light left off, Madonna's Music is another foray into clubland. This time out, Mads turns to French DJ/producer Mirwais Ahmadzai for musical direction, and strikes gold. Using an arsenal of vocal effects and Electro beats, Mirwais creates a smoky, modern sound born of Parisian dance clubs. To no one's surprise, Madonna wears it well.

Just when we've put Madonna in another box -- one labeled "Introspective Celebrity Mom
Who Doesn't Want to Be an Icon Anymore but Can't Help Herself" -- the forty-two-year-old
reverts to pleasure girl on the punk-funk dance floor, partying with the break dancers, the
queers, the addicts and insomniacs. It's been eighteen woozy years since Madonna
dropped "Everybody"; with "Music," the lead track off her thirteenth album, she... More >

Anybody who denies that Madonna made great singles in the '80s is a boob. Run all together on The Immaculate Collection, they constitute the greatest album of her mortal life. But except for the debut, the albums per se from that period strove for schlock when they didn't stoop to filler. In the early '90s, she essayed great longforms--an ambition that presupposes good songs while cultivating consistency and flow. Then she got scared and discovered God, two not unrelated experiences that rendered her great singles and good songs more middlebrow. So rejoice that from Vocoder to cowgirl suit, she's got her sass back. Pretending to be cheap, she sometimes--as on my favorite moment, the processed-munchkin hook of the perfectly entitled "Nobody's Perfect"--really is cheap, which is essential to the illusion. All the songs are good, all chintzy. Which combo provides just the right consistency and flow. (Grade - A)